The night is (when the sun descends on the degrees, and out comes the heavenly host with its captain) like a Cushite woman whose clothing is inwrought with gold, wrapt up in a diamond-spangled cloak of blue. The stars are perplexed in mid-ocean, like strangers driven out from their dwelling-places; they reflect their light, in their likeness and their image, in the midst of the sea, like flames and fires. The waters and the sky are like brilliant and bright ornaments on the night.
The sea is like the heaven in appearance, they are thus two encompassing seas; and between them is my heart a third sea, when the billows of my new hymns arise.
3. Letter Addressed to Nathan b. Samuel[[117]]
To the store-house of understanding and stronghold of faith, the crown of the scholars and chief of the speakers, the pride of the Torah and the bowl of the candlestick, our master and teacher Rabbi Nathan the scholar, son of the glory of the greatness of the holiness of our master and teacher Rabbi Samuel the scholar, of blessed memory, from one who bows himself down before him and longs to behold his countenance, Judah the Levite, son of Rabbi Samuel (may his soul be in paradise!).
Stones of the crown lifted on high, glorying in the crown of our generation, deriving their genealogy from the Foundation Stone, and mocking every other precious stone! Thou art the crown that is set upon the stone of salvation; all thy border is of desirable stones: the chief stone is above thee, graceful stones are at thy right and at thy left, and thou hast rays coming forth from thy hand. I shall divide the seas, and stir up the shades, for I shall arouse myself to sing, when Nathan the prophet comes to me. The meditations of my heart are in commotion, and my thoughts impel me to write. Thou didst humble me, yet didst thou delight me, for thou didst lead me with honor, though with heaviness, and put upon me the crown and the testimony. Thou didst robe me with thy raiment, attire me with thy mitres, and strengthen me with thy power. But who can don thy crowns, and who can put on thy wreaths? Gates of justice are thy gates, lofty mountains are thy mountains, and twilights of desire are thy dawns. When thou devisest a law, thou causest the advice of others to fail; when thou counsellest, thou breakest every rod; every mouth becomes dumb, even the eloquent feels ashamed, and they who compose songs have mouths, but speak not: their fountains are stopped up, and they themselves are still as a stone in the presence of a fountain whose waters fail not. Thy heavens do not become black, and thy rains are not withheld. Thy store-houses are filled, and thy spices send forth their fragrance. The manna descends upon him that hearkens to thy words. Wonderful are thy words, and thy compositions are awe-inspiring; they fly to the west and to the south, and speak from on high. Shall Egypt detain such a man, while Jerusalem, as well as the land of Merathaim,[[118]] longs for thee? Thou art a bundle of myrrh held in the hands and sought betwixt the breasts; thy fame tells concerning thee and likewise about thy thoughts. The mixtures of thy perfumes proclaim before thee: ‘Bow the knee’; and thy books reveal thy secrets. Thy name gave[[119]] forth thy taste and thy pleasant dainties; the wonderful sage, the exalted crown; yea, thy name is greater than all; our master and teacher, Nathan the scholar, the crown of scholars, the son of the glory of our master and teacher Samuel the scholar, the righteous, of blessed memory. From one who is a portion of thy lights and a tributary of thy rivers, Judah the Levite, thy disciple, the gleaning of thy harvest, and the fallen fruit of thy vintage; who sends his heart ahead of his writings; who is fearful and faint-hearted to consider his affairs. Shall I prosper when I come forth with my ploughshare and coulter to meet the Cherethite and Pelethite, a mighty nation that arranges battle-lines like Benaiah and Ethan? Who am I, what is my life, and what is my desire and wish? Worthless dust, crushed and ill; fearful on account of my iniquity and the sins of my youth and old age. Yet I ventured to stand upon thy thresholds with my supplications, though I am but a wayfarer that turns aside to tarry for a night, a Levite who sojourns there. Wherewith shall I draw nigh, and how shall I vie with the ruler and potentate? I summoned counsels from afar, took up my weapons, came in, and went out; but I found nothing better than silence. I was humiliated, and put to shame, and despaired of an answer; I lost heart to come out to meet thee; I groped for the wall in the dark, and felt my way like the blind, and sought hiding-places, until I met taskmasters, who were urgent, persistent, and pressing; they came from the wonderful sage, the lord, the exalted nobleman, our master and teacher Halfon the Levite, who speaks in thy name, and endeavors to take hold of thee, O my lord and my pride, may he be exalted and lifted up, and may he be very high. He stands between us to join our hearts with the exchange of our writings and the purity of our love. He importuned me, pressed me, urged me, aroused me, and brought me out hastily from the dungeon of slothfulness. He coaxed me, without restraining himself, saying: ‘Come now, I will prove thee; finish thy work, and give the best thereof which is full of understanding; perform at thy old age the deeds of youth. Know before whom thou art about to render the account, near whom thou writest, and near whom thou signest.’ Thy enchanters hurried, and thy magicians did great things, until they annulled my vows, and made my bonds void. Then my bands dropped off, my youth was renewed, my songs thronged tumultuously, my lyres were sounded, and forgotten were my fears and the years of the life of my sojournings. I remembered not that the day declined toward evening, that the eternal lodging-place was near by, while there was yet abundant work. I mingled with the throng, aroused myself with youth, eagerly sought the dawn of life, and dissembled hoariness, as one dissembles a stolen thing, though my leanness testified against me. Then I took some of thy words, and with wrestlings did I wrestle with the lion, and prevailed; I rescued a piece of an ear, and made merry with myself, for I was likened to the scribes of the king and to them that have ability to stand in the king’s palace. My lord, in thy kindness pardon thy servant, and be not too exacting with me, and weigh not my words; judge me in the scale of merit, and bring me not into the judgment of thy wisdom. Behold, here is the fruit of my intellect, the choicest of my musing, and the best of my meditations, according to the ability of my hand and tongue, until I come unto my lord to watch at thy doors, to gather thy pearls, and to sing thy praises. Lo, these are but the outskirts of thy paths, and a little of the splendor of thy moons. He that makes peace in His high places shall increase thy peace, shall make thy friends perfect, shall fight against thine enemies, and establish thy plans, that thou mayest spend thy days in prosperity. I conclude with peace. Amen.
XIX. ABRAHAM B. MEIR IBN EZRA
[Poet, philologist, and astronomer. He was born in Spain about 1092, and died in 1167. He acquired great fame as grammarian and biblical exegete, as poet, and as astronomer. The greater bulk of his poems are liturgic; but he also has a number of fine secular poems. His commentaries are based on sound principles of exegesis, and his poems are replete with deep feeling.]
1. Plaintive Song[[120]]
Where is thy might, O right hand of the Lord?—I heard of thee by the hearing of the ear;—but now I have despaired of lifting up my head, as though I had never known of thee.
The fire of jealousy burns within me for the queen that now languishes in bonds; she is the derision and scorn of all creatures, bound to a life-long widowhood. My foes are prosperous and at rest, but I am an exile, and wander to and fro.